Road of Life: Book Two: Love Grows in Time
by The Noble French Fry
Summary: Married life has treated one Duke boy and his wife well these past six months, but not so well for the other. But maybe time will change that... [Sequel to Oh, Baby! LukeOC, BoOC]
1. Midnight Cries

**Title: Love Grows in Time**

**Rating: currently PG/K, may go to T later on**

**Reason: tiniest bit of suggestive content in this chapter **

**Genres: Romance, Drama**

**Series: #2 in the "Road of Life" series, preceded by "Oh, Baby!"**

**Description: Married life has been treating one Duke boy very good in the past six months, but not so much with the other. Maybe time will be able to change that...**

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! But as those of you who have me on your alert lists know, I've been BUSY! I apologize ahead of time for the length and quality of this chapter, but it kinda just opens and introduces you to the changes that have happened in the six months since the close of "Oh, Baby!"

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**Midnight Cries**

The night was quiet and still in its darkness, peaceful as could be. Sweet sleep held everyone in the small farmhouse under its protective spell, carrying them into the realm of dreams. The sweet dreams were virginal, unbroken the entire night through thus far…

Until a whining cry pierced the still night.

Groaning in deep irritation, Lou rolled over and squinted at her alarm clock sitting atop the bedside table. Just as she'd expected, the glowing red numbers read 12:30 AM.

It'd been like this for the past six months—the first six of little Johnny's life. He woke up every night at exactly 12:30 and cried to be fed, waking up his currently agitated mother and his hard-sleeping father on occasion. Lou was relatively certain she could set her watch by her son's crazy routine, if need be, and she was about ready to set her alarm to wake her five minutes before that every night.

Moaning again and deciding against getting up, she instead reached an arm down along the edge of her bed. Her hand groped around in the darkness and finally found what she was looking for: a slipper.

With one swift movement, she hefted it in the air and tossed it across the darkness.

A fairly loud thump followed by an annoyed groan told her she'd hit her target dead-on. The aggravated and sleepy moan of her victim further broke the silence of the night over the sound of Johnny crying.

"Lou, did you throw that?" Bo grumbled.

Rolling her eyes in his direction, Lou snuggled down further on her pillow. "No, Bo, it's raining slippers in the house. Yes, of course I did. You hear your baby crying?"

She could faintly see Bo sit up a little and rub at his face about five feet away on his separate bed. "Yes, of course."

"Well then get up and do something about it!"

Bo grunted angrily, sliding back down onto his pillow. "Lou, why can't you do something?"

"Because it's your turn for one and I'm busy sleeping for another."

Scoffing, Bo rolled out of his bed anyway. "You seem pretty awake to me."

Pressing her face down into the pillow, Lou's reply left her lips and became muffled on its way to her husband's ears. "Hey, I can't hear you. I'm sleeping." She began snoring exaggeratedly loud just to prove her point.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Lou." Despite his words, Bo stood and lifted his son from the crib, ending the crying fit.

"Bottle's in the fridge."

"Yeah, I know," Bo mumbled. Holding the little baby in his arms, he wandered out of the bedroom.

"Thank you!" Lou called after him.

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Luke had learned to be a fairly light sleeper these past six months with a baby girl constantly waking up during the night. As many times as Jo got up to deal with Yvonne, Luke wanted to help as much as possible and graciously handled the late-night feedings half of the time.

So he stirred immediately when Yvonne's crying broke the still darkness.

As did the woman who'd been sleeping in his embrace. Giving a light moan before bringing the flat of her palm against her eyes, she rubbed away at her eyelids sleepily. Opening them, she rapidly blinked her gray eyes at him, apparently trying to see in the surrounding darkness.

"Is it twelve-thirty one already?" she yawned. "I'd barely gone to sleep, and now I've got to get back up again. Our little girl just has the world's best sense of timing, doesn't she?"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luke whispered against Jo's ear. "I've got Yvonne this time. You just go right back to sleep, honey."

"You sure, Luke?"

"I'm sure, Jo," he replied. Somewhat reluctantly, he untangled his arms from around his wife and flung his legs over the edge of their bed. "I'm sure. Just go back to sleep."

"Will do," she replied around a wide, loud yawn. "Will do."

Smiling, Luke took his baby daughter from her crib and into his arms. Her crying immediately stopped as he hoisted her on to his hip and instead she clung tightly to her father's side, babbling incomprehensible M sounds.

"Hey, that's all you wanted wasn't it, spoiled Princess Yvonne," he whispered to his daughter, bouncing her up and down a little as he carried her out into the kitchen. "All you want is somebody to hold you all the time, hmm?"

Tugging on one of her dark curls, Yvonne gurgled in reply.

Luke half-expected to find either Lou or Bo in the kitchen warming a bottle for Johnny—who had the odd habit of waking up only one minute before Yvonne every single night—and he wasn't disappointed. Putting two apparently cold bottles in the microwave—one for Johnny and one for Yvonne—Bo was holding his son with one arm and furiously pressing buttons with the other.

"Having trouble, Bo?" Luke asked his cousin.

"No," Bo grumbled in reply, demonstratively pressing the START button and turning the microwave on.

"Something wrong?"

"Just the headache I have from getting hit by Lou's slipper right smack dab in the forehead." Bo's free hand rubbed at the left side of his head. "I was sleeping just fine until she decided to just pick up her shoe and throw it right at my face."

The only thing that kept Luke from smiling at Lou's antics was the knowledge that it would infuriate Bo. While the shoe-to-the-face would've been funny to Lou and practically everyone else in the world, victimized Bo would never understand that.

But the microwave's beep saved Luke from having to say anything.

Taking both bottles out, Bo put the nipple of one right in little Johnny's mouth and handed the other to Luke, who then gave it over to Yvonne.

The little girl's eyes closed sleepily already as she worked away on it, sucking out the milk passionately. One tiny hand clutched in a death grip on the plastic bottle while the other balled into a fist against her cheek.

Careful not to jiggle little Yvonne, Luke strode into the living room and sat down on one of the two couches, laying his daughter back in his arms for more comfort all around.

It wasn't long ago that this couch had been his bed, Luke mused. Just a little over six months ago, before he became a husband and father, he'd slept here on the sofa. But recently, Daisy had sacrificed her queen-sized bed over to the newlywed Luke and Jo, also cleaning out a space in the corner of the room for Yvonne's crib. At first, little Jo would have none of it—she wasn't about to take that from Daisy. Eventually, Daisy had convinced her it was nothing.

For about the first month, Daisy had taken the sofa as her bed. But that hadn't worked for long with all of the late-night feedings between the always hungry Yvonne and Johnny. Someone was always accidentally waking Daisy up, with no good reason. Now she often stayed at friends' homes for the night and was home whenever possible during the day to compensate. It pained them all, but Daisy argued it'd only be like this until both of the newlywed couples had their own homes.

A little less gently than Luke had, Bo sat down beside him on the couch.

Now Bo, on the other hand, was currently sleeping in a separate bed from his wife. The newlyweds were sleeping on the two twin beds in what used to be Bo and Luke's room, with Johnny's crib against the wall by Bo's bed. Luke remembered Lou quite adamantly refusing to share a bed with Bo, despite his strong arguments that they were, after all, married—and that they'd done it more than once before. Still, Lou was not hearing any of it.

But that was Lou and Bo for you: making each other's lives as difficult as possible.

It would take the end of the world to get them to admit anything, wouldn't it?

"Johnny's asleep," Bo muttered, stroking his son's hand where it curled around an already almost-empty bottle. He yawned widely. "And I'm going back to bed. Good ni—morning, and I'll see you in about nine hours for breakfast, unless Lou and Johnny have something to say about it."

Shaking his head at Bo as he walked off, Luke wondered what in the world had possessed his cousin for the past six months.

_Maybe, just maybe_, he mused, _it's that Bo fell in love with the one woman in the entire world that could turn him upside down and right-side up again with one sentence_. And the one woman who tore Bo up the most, the one who drove him craziest, and probably the one he'd sworn to stay away from.

Glancing down at the now still child in his arms, Luke realized Yvonne too was asleep. With a sigh, he got up and wandered his way back to his and Jo's bedroom, toting his snoozing daughter.

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**TBC ASAP! **

**Now I know you guys haven't forgotten my reviewing policy already...**

**By the way, I got 95 reviews on "Oh, Baby!" Let's try and break 100 on this story! **


	2. Identical Cousins by Identical Twins

**Yay. It's finally here! Sorry it took so long, but all I have is the same excuse I always have: I've been busy. I hope to make updates quicker around here though. You have my word!**

**And part of that whole being busy thing was because I was planning out this book. I finally have the outlines and preliminary plans done all the way to the last chapter. YAY!

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**Identical Cousins by Identical Twins**

"I swear, Jo, if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were identical twins, just like us," Lou muttered, observing her son and niece playing on the living room floor. They both giggled as they pressed buttons on some little toy, causing it to omit various noises. "They look almost exactly alike. So much so I think it's scary."

"It is not," Jo insisted. "Both of them have mamas that look almost exactly alike and then dads look fairly similar themselves. So it's only reasonable they turned out looking similar." Folding her arms across her chest, Jo joined in staring at the two laughing babies. "But yes, I agree the resemblance there is a tad uncanny. The only thing is Johnny's hair is straight and Yvonne's is curly."

"And even that isn't much."

"No, it isn't," Jo agreed.

The two children in observation didn't seem to notice, but went on pressing buttons and squealing with joy. In fact, they kept gurgling when the other was silent, giving the impression of a little conversation going on.

Smiling, Lou continued stirring up one of the two recently warmed baby food jars, which were meant for Johnny and Yvonne's respective breakfasts. "At least they'll always have a playmate," she said. "As long as they live, they'll always have someone their own age to play with and talk to."

As if disagreeing with that point, Johnny snatched a block from Yvonne, who then attempted to take it back none too gently. Being slightly bigger, Johnny was able to keep it out of his cousin's reach and started crawling wildly away in the other direction. Yvonne wasn't going to give chase, and sat crying in the middle of the floor.

Sighing, Jo reached out and took her whining daughter into her arms. "Don't get your hopes up, Lou. They might wind up having next to nothing in common."

"Hey, me and you turned out alright, didn't we?" Setting down the small jar on the table, Lou went to retrieve and reprimand her bullying baby.

"Are you saying we have nothing in common, Lou?" Jo inquired, setting Yvonne in one of two high-chairs sitting at one corner of the table.

"Gotcha, you fast little booger," Lou muttered to Johnny as she finally grabbed a hold of him and swung him up onto her hip. With a little effort, she forced the stolen block from his hand and let it fall to the floor. Turning back towards her sister, she replied to Jo's question. "Well, not that we have nothing in common so much as we're just different."

"The old night and day scenario?"

Sitting Johnny in the other high chair not occupied by Yvonne, Lou shook her head. "No, not quite, Jo. More like morning and dusk. We're not quite night/day different, in my opinion."

"Oh, that really clears it all up, Lou," Jo murmured, taking one of the warm jars of food and a spoon to feed her daughter. "And it makes me feel so much better about our relationship too."

"Hey, don't take it like that!" Lou insisted, taking the other jar and spoon. "I never said we don't have a good relationship. I just said we're different. But opposites attract, you know. Maybe that's what stuck us so close together."

Putting a spoonful of whatever this stuff was exactly into Yvonne's mouth, Jo sighed. "I'd be more willing to bet on circumstance instead since you and opposites don't seem to do well."

The hand moving a spoon to Johnny's mouth froze as Lou's head simultaneously snapped towards Jo. The look that she shot in her sister's direction might've killed her, had stares been capable of that. "What is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

Jo's reply was cut off by Luke hurrying into the kitchen from their bedroom. Four heads turned towards him immediately. He was obviously in a big rush, hopping into a boot while he hastily tucked in his shirt.

"Hey, where's Uncle Jesse?" he asked, momentarily halting to tug his shoe all the way on.

"Out of here already," Lou answered, glancing at her brother-in-law and saving Jo from the murderous stare—at least for the moment. "I was up at seven and he was already on his way out," she further explained, absently dishing a spoonful of food into Johnny's mouth. "I guess he went out to the construction sight already."

Luke nodded. "Thanks. I was supposed to be out of here thirty minutes ago. Running late, gotta go, bye." After kissing his wife, Luke was out the door running.

And Jo's stare followed him out all the way.

"Awwwwwwwww," Lou drawled, rolling her eyes. "You even watched big strong husband all the way out the door!" She couldn't stop the light scoff that escaped her lips followed by a very sarcastic tone. "That was one-hundred percent, completely and entirely fantastic, you know. Just great! How entirely… _sappy_. Especially given the fact that he ran out to work on building your house just on the other side of the farm!"

"Hey!" Jo protested strongly. "It's not 'sappy' for a husband to kiss his wife before running off to work. I say it's romantic."

"I still say it's sappy," Lou disagreed. "And you're not gonna convince me otherwise."

Now it was Jo's turn to give her sister a stare of daggers. "And you're just saying all of this because you wish you had it. But you can't because you're just too dang stubborn to let anything happen the right way."

A very angry, very nasty reply was cut off by Bo hurrying out in a very similar way to his cousin moments before, hopping into a shoe and trying to button up his shirt. With hair flying every way possible, he stared at Lou with a scowl.

"How could you let me sleep this late?" he shouted. "It's almost nine o'clock and I was supposed to be out of here half an hour ago! I'm running late, thanks to you!"

Eyes narrowing, Lou's hand unconsciously tightened on the jar in her grasp. "Hey, don't blame me, Bo. It wasn't me laying in bed until nine o'clock. I was up at seven, thank you very much."

"I was up with the baby last night, because you decided it wasn't your turn!"

"Get over it! It wasn't my turn and it wasn't my fault you got up last night!"

Mouth hanging open, Bo's eyes narrowed too. "Hello, you were the one who threw a shoe at me while I was sleeping very nicely!"

"Alright, so I woke you up last night," Lou admitted. "It still wasn't my fault that you woke up late this morning. That's what alarm clocks are for, genius!" She threw a glance at a wall clock. "Speaking of which, every second you spend standing there, blaming me for things I didn't do, you get later and later."

"You're right for once," Bo huffed. "I don't have time for this." And with that, he turned and ran right out the door.

Lou was left simmering and gripping the baby food jar tighter and tighter until it was probably near a breaking point, with her son just staring at her in incomprehension.

Giving a deep, heartfelt sigh, Jo's light voice broke into Lou's anger. "That's exactly what I meant. You and opposites—even just differences in opinion—do not make a good mix."

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**Well, now we know how things are going around the Duke house... Not well on one side, very well on the other. Hmm...**

**Okay, I have a question for you reviewers to answer: Who do you like better: Jo or Lou? **


	3. Bored By Board

**Hallelujah, it's here at last! I am so dang sorry it took so long. I've had so much school and stuff to do as well as a Stargate story I've been working on. **

**Now, however, I have a promise for you. This story is becoming my top priority as opposed to the Stargate one. I absolutely promise to have a new chapter for you guys AT LEAST once a week. You can hold me to that.**

**Good to see Jo has so many fans... Discouraging to know Lou has so few...

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**Bored by Board**

The morning air was crisp but warm today, despite the fact that it was still early February. Bright sunlight and a clear sky smiled from above down on Georgia in true southern style and in most other places, this weather would be considered a spring blessing. Here in the south, it was just what we all called Old Man Winter.

Jogging down the recently cleared driveway between the main Duke house and the skeleton of a new one, Bo wondered why it was mornings like these that he had to go and work. Why couldn't the not-that-great days be the ones he worked on? It always seemed that the very _nicest_ days were the ones he had to spend slaving away at building a house.

Yes, construction work on Luke and Jo's small house had started a few months ago, and had been moving along quickly so far. But for it to be so, Bo, Luke, Uncle Jesse, Cooter and other friends that stopped by sporadically had to work like crazy and sacrifice large amounts of time. But that sacrifice meant the preliminary work on the house's small frame was done.

And, Bo knew, this process wasn't likely to be over any time soon, since after Jo and Luke's home was built and finished, Lou and Bo's own would have to be built.

But the greatest part was the fact that the houses would be_ on_ the Duke farm, a few minutes' walk from the house in which Uncle Jesse had raised his two nephews and his niece. Bo, Luke and their families would never be too far away to visit, and the boys would still be able to work on the farm the way they always had.

And Bo was glad that he and Lou had agreed on that matter. She too had wanted to stick as close to the family as possible for reasons she kept to herself. Jo had whispered that it was the fact that neither of them had ever had much of a family life, and even if she never said it aloud, Lou wanted to stick as close to her new-found family—and the sister who'd been her only real friend for years—as much as possible perhaps for unconscious fear of losing a relationship with them. And for Bo, it'd been the most glorious feeling to actually _agree_ with his contrary wife for once.

That was, as far as both parties were concerned, a miracle.

Quickening his step, Bo reminded himself that he was currently running late to get out to the skeletal site of Luke and Jo's house and that he needn't risk anyone getting mad at him for being late again.

And Uncle Jesse was most likely getting tired of Bo blaming his tardiness on Lou.

_It is usually her fault_, Bo argued to himself. _She's the one who let me sleep in. Always is._

Sighing, he rounded the last little curve of the pathway and came into view of the wooden frame of the house. All four exterior walls had been raised already, and the newer inner walls were the ones being currently worked upon. A few of those were finished as well. Thus far, the house was basically a skeleton with no innards furnished as of yet.

"Bo, get over here and get to work!" Uncle Jesse called from the table that had come to house most of the supply of nails, tools and the blueprints.

"Yessir," Bo answered, jogging over to the table and taking one of the tool-belts sitting on it. He quickly buckled it around his waist as he looked at the blueprints his uncle was staring at. "What do I need to do?"

"Get over there and help Luke get the bedroom wall up," he replied distractedly, still tracing fingers along the blueprints and apparently running over things in his head.

Nodding, Bo headed off in that direction.

Passing sideways through a pair of already-raised beams, he joined his cousin in lifting up a new plank of wood that would eventually become the wall for the master bedroom. As Bo silently held it still, Luke put nails where necessary.

Bo tried—he really did—to concentrate on what he was doing, and leave the thoughts that'd been bugging him, but there wasn't really anything to focus on, when all you were doing was holding up a board. And his reflections quickly found their way back to the one thing that was always on his mind these days.

_I wonder how big our house will be_, he thought. _Lou will probably go crazy making sure it's big enough to fit her grand designs. Whatever those might be. She has to have design ideas for our bedroom…_

A little off-handedly, he wondered if by the time their house was built, Lou would be reconciled to the idea of sleeping in the same bed as him. Her stubborn stupidity was quite frankly annoying.

_And Johnny's bedroom…_

Suddenly Bo had the mental picture of his son—a few years older than he currently was—playing with toy cars in a room painted like a NASCAR speedway… After all, the little one was a Duke, and had to have that speed-demon blood in him somewhere, all it needed was time to surface.

Abruptly, Bo realized there might just be a flaw in the slaw, as Rosco was so fond of saying. What about any other kids that might come along in the future, hopefully some time not too far down the line? If they built the house now, it was most likely going to be small since their family was currently so… But what about rooms for the other kids?

Maybe they'd wind up building on later on… But wouldn't that be sort of a pain?

It'd be better to just build the house a little big now, with room for any children that might be coming along…

_Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you?_ he reminded himself. _Lou might not even want more kids._ That thought worried him. He'd always pictured his family as being big, whenever he got around to having one. And in his current standings with Lou, it didn't look likely more kids were on the way—soon or otherwise.

"Hello? Bo? Mind coming back from Never-Never Land there?"

Luke's voice cut into Bo's thoughts and brought him back to the here and now from "Never-Never Land."

"Huh? What?"

Rolling his eyes, Luke tapped a finger against the board Bo was still holding onto. "It's done. We're moving on."

Bo nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. "Right. Sorry."

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**Okay, it was short. I know, and I'm sorry. But I'm going to be very busy tomorrow, so I had to get this up today or I might've gotten some 'maters (tomatoes) thrown at me by you folks... Don't want that!**

**Anyway, I'll start the new chapter ASAP. Which will be Saturday. I'm going down to Palatka for a Bluegrass Festival Thursday and Friday... Any other bluegrass fans out there? There has to be...  
**

**Oh, yeah... and REVIEW! **


	4. Kids, Kids, Kids!

**OMG, you guys thought this'd never come, didn't you? I am so extremely sorry, words cannot express it! The first thing that kept me was abnormally huge amounts of schoolwork... the FCAT is coming up, God help me. And the other was I had the awful case known as writer's block. Now I've never had very serious writer's block before, but I had it this time...**

** Anyway, you're probably all sick of excuses, so here it is. And remember, reviews always help to speed me up!

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**Kids, Kids, Kids!**

It'd been sometime this afternoon when the thoughts first occurred to Jo. She wasn't sure she could remember when the first inkling of the wondering started as it was a gradual process, but she had been wondering for quite some time now.

And, she worried, it might be something she shouldn't be speculating about just now.

But that would have to wait until Luke got home and Jo spoke with him to be determined for sure. She'd be subtle too, so as not to upset the fairly delicate balance of their relationship with her worries. If he wasn't ready to talk about it, she'd wait.

Patience was something life with Lou had taught Jo quite well.

To Jo's sheer luck and apprehension, Luke walked in the door, returning the day's work at building their house, just then.

_Whoa, calm down there, Jo,_ she said to herself, invisibly calming her heart's quickened beat. _Get a hold of yourself; it's not like you've never talked to him before. This isn't any different._ A different voice in her head decided to argue that point fiercely.

_This is different, and you know it. This is much more important._

_More important than telling him my baby was his? And that I wanted to marry him?_

_Those_ were_ big, but this is bigger, Jo._

_No, it's not._

_You're talking about the future of your family. That's not big?_

With a firm, taut shake of her head, she banished the rebellious voice from her brain and was grateful for the fact she was the only one sitting in the room. She knew she'd be twice as nervous with Lou or Daisy sitting beside her and probably would've caved in to the rebellious voice had either been here. Luckily, the latter was helping prepare dinner and the former was setting the dining room table.

Shucking his boots, Luke didn't even notice his wife sitting on the couch.

And that granted her a few minutes to compose herself and calm raging nerves, a luxury she wished she could indulge in more. But, she forced her reluctant legs up off of the couch and finally welcomed her husband home.

"Hey," she greeted softly, pacing towards him.

Luke almost jumped out of his skin at the abrupt sound, but when he saw Jo, the look smoothed away. "Hey," he returned. "Didn't see you there."

"I kinda figured as much." She smiled lightly. "And I was trying to be inconspicuous." She stopped a few feet away from him and grasped her hands together in front of herself to keep from wringing them. "So, did you make good progress today?"

Smiling that heartbreaker smile of his, Luke took the steps necessary to close the gap between them and lightly brushed his lips across her cheek before answering. The small gesture set Jo's already fast-beating heart on fire. And when his arm wrapped its way protectively around his shoulder and he leaned back, she was lost in the sparkling blue depths of his eyes.

And the voice in her head that was telling her to abandon her mission was screaming now.

_Oh, no… Stay strong and don't turn back, Jo!_ With sheer effort, she managed to keep her face calm.

"Yeah, we did," he gradually replied. "We're making very good progress. We've actually got all of the inner walls framed now and the plywood's up on the outer walls now too. So next is the frame of the roof…" He caught himself, leaned back and laughed lightly. "Too much information you don't care about, hmm?"

Jo shook her head. "No... And I asked anyway. My fault."

Closing his eyes, Luke sighed.

Frowning, Jo asked, "_What_?"

He opened his eyes and she could see the spark of a mischievous smile in them. "Don't you know the first rule of marriage?" he asked. When Jo shook her head, he continued, "Well, the first rule is: it's never your fault, always your spouse's."

She laughed lightly in response, then fell quiet as the nagging voice came back again. Apparently, she didn't manage to keep the evidence of her worry off of her face as Luke noticed and frowned right away.

"Hey, what's eating at you?"

The quick, simple reply, "Nothing!" wanted to find its way to her lips, but Jo wouldn't let it. After a sigh, she answered, "Actually, there was something about the house I wanted to ask you about."

One of Luke's eyebrows arched. "Oh, what was that?"

For a moment, the words caught in Jo's throat, but with an effort, she forced them out. "Um… How easy or hard would it be for us to add on to the house later on?"

"Fairly easy," he replied. Then his brow wrinkled in sync with his frown's quick appearance. "Wait, _why_?"

"I was just wondering… you know, for any kids that might come along later." She couldn't keep her eyes on him any more, and instead they fixed their gaze on the carpet. All of her worrying came down to Luke's response to that bit of knowledge.

"Kids?"

At the hopeful-sounding note following the question in his voice, she raised her gaze to him again. She couldn't read the look on his face, except the bit of shock there. "Yes," she said slowly, still trying to gauge his reaction. "Kids. I was wondering about our family's future, Luke."

Leisurely, a smile worked its way to his lips. "I've been thinking about kids lately too, Jo. I always pictured myself with a big family, and I didn't think you'd have any objections to that…"

Returning the smile as she realized her worry had been for naught, Jo shook her head. "No, none at all. I was actually worrying you didn't want any more kids."

"Do you know how big my family is?"

"Apparently I don't."

Luke's smile returned and Jo wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know about the size of his family. It might put expectations on her to have a huge family…

_Luke wouldn't do that_, she reminded herself, and she returned the smile again. "Well, why don't you just tell me about them over dinner?"

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**TBC asap! **

**Did anyone else ever notice how many crazy cousins the Dukes have popping up outta nowhere? Sounds kinda like my family reunions! I swear, they rent out a convention center for us!**


	5. Differences of Opinion

**DIE, SCHOOL DIE! Hah, not what you were expecting to read, huh:) Well, I have that excuse for the stupid lateness of this chapter, and the fact that the stomach bug has been going around again and hit everyone in my big family but me and my dad. So that means extra chores for those of us blessed enough to remain healthy. (rolls eyes) But now the FCAT (big, end-of-the-year test for us Floridian kids) is over, so hopefully I can slack off of school a little and update quicker. Let's all hope so.**

**Anyway, one other thing I wanted to say is, Whoa, where did all my reviewers go? There were 9 reviews on chapter one, 11 on chapter 2, then a measley 5 on chapter 3 and only_ 4_ on the last chapter! What's up with that? Getting lazy because I've been slow to update? I hope not!**

**On to the chapter you have (hopefully) been waiting patiently for!

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**Differences of Opinion**

Some unseen force woke Jo in the middle of the night, and when she rolled over, the harsh, glowing red letters of the bedside alarm clock informed her that it was 12:30. She sighed and waited until the last digit shifted.

Sure enough, the predictable cry split the night's silence from the direction of Yvonne's crib.

For a reason Jo couldn't put her finger on, her daughter's odd habit was suddenly quite funny. She laughed lightly through the darkness at the hidden ceiling for a moment, then shook her head.

Carefully, she removed the arm wrapped around her waist, rolled off of the bed and gently laid Luke's arm on the spot she'd just vacated. He moaned lightly and shifted, but remained asleep, to Jo's relief. He'd been such a light sleeper lately, she feared even the slightest movement on her part would wake him

Apparently today's work had tired him enough to break his light-sleeping habits.

She silently padded to her daughter's crib and lifted the bawling infant into her arms. As per custom, Yvonne's tears turned into excited, incomprehensible babble as she settled on Jo's hip.

With a sigh, Jo carried her baby out of the room and into the kitchen.

As expected, Lou was already sitting at the dining room table with Johnny—sucking away at his milk—in her arms and an extra bottle sitting beside her. When she spotted Jo and Yvonne, she passed the extra into her sister's hand.

Jo in turn gave it to Yvonne.

"Interesting discussion here at dinner," Lou said as Jo took a seat across the table. "I never would've known Uncle Jesse had such a big family. Never would've guessed."

"I dunno, he seems like the kind of person who grew up with a lot of siblings to me," Jo replied, wrapping her arms around Yvonne tighter. "He always seemed like a big family guy, which means he probably had a sizeable one himself..."

"Sizeable? Try enormous!" Lou cried. She shook her head. "Can you imagine what it must've been like to grow up as one of twelve kids? That must've been one hectic household! Could you just imagine having eight brothers and three sisters?"

"No, but I think it must've been fun," Jo replied, stroking Yvonne's curled fist.

"Fun?" Lou's tone was entirely disbelieving of what she'd just heard, and she stared at Jo through wide eyes. "You'd call that fun? I call that crazy!"

Jo smiled at her sister across the nigh-complete darkness. "Hey, at least you'd always have someone to play with."

"Wasn't _I_ always there to play with you when we were little?" Lou argued. "Always there when you wanted to do something? Always able to be your little companion twenty-four seven? And there's only one of me."

"No, you weren't _always_ there, Lou."

"When wasn't I?"

To prevent the slightly bitter retorts that instantly came to mind, Jo diverted her eyes from Lou's face. "There were times," she answered simply and vaguely, a great alternative to her reflexive snaps. Hopefully it wouldn't breathe air into the furnace of Lou's temper.

Luckily, Lou was reasonable enough at 12:30 in the morning not to anger at Jo's avoidance. "Times you can't hold against me."

Jo's eyes turned back to her sister as one eyebrow arched lightly. "I never said I did, Lou," she muttered softly. "Not once did you ever hear me say I held anything of that sort against you."

Eyes narrowing slightly, Lou scoffed gently. "No, you just implied it."

"I did not," Jo returned indignantly. "I wasn't saying I hold it against you and I was not implying. All I said was that with eleven siblings, you get more playtime than you do with just one."

"And no privacy," Lou inserted firmly.

"Who says?"

Again, Lou's eyes narrowed. "_I_ do."

"Excuse me, but do you have the experience to be surely making that announcement?" Jo retorted. "Did you ever grow up with lots of brothers and sisters?" She exaggeratedly feigned surprise. "No, wait, you only had _me_."

Lou smirked and rolled her eyes. "That's right, I did. And I turned out just fine growing up with _just one sibling_. Eleven would be completely crazy and unnecessary." Her eyes turned down to the now sleeping infant nestled in her arms. "And probably absolute torture for the parents."

Frowning and putting a large wrinkle to her brow, Jo cocked her head slightly. "You don't seriously think it'd be_ that_ bad for the parents, do you? I mean all of the good times would just be multiplied with twelve kids. That's twelve times the love and care, twelve times the triumphs, Lou."

"And twelve times the messes, twelve times the problems, twelve times all of the 'bad stuff'…" she returned complacently. "And who's to say all of that wouldn't wind up outweighing the good?" Pausing, she gazed down at her infant son again, bouncing his sleeping body a little. "I have one perfect—well, not perfect, more like just wonderful—little baby boy, and I'm not even sure I want more children at all."

Almost certain her jaw dropped at hearing that, Jo's mouth worked trying to find words for a moment before she finally found one that fit her thoughts: "_What!_"

Turning towards Jo, Lou's lips pressed together a little tighter. "You heard me."

She frowned. "Have you even talked to Bo about this?"

"No," Lou replied reluctantly. "I'm fairly certain he wants more kids, but with the way things are going with us—and will probably always go with us—I'm not seeing reproduction in our future. Near or otherwise."

Jo deliberately kept her mouth shut after that. This was not an argument she wanted to pursue, she knew. Voicing her opinion on Lou and Bo's hostile relationship had gotten her nowhere but downward in the past months, and the middle of the night was not the time to spark another argument/fight with her sister.

So instead, she stood and said, "Whatever. Be your own weird self." With that, she strode back towards her bedroom.

And Lou made no movement to follow.

-+-+-+-

For a moment after Jo left her alone in the dark kitchen, Lou just sat there. Some swirling feeling of guilt lay deep in her gut, and for a moment, she didn't know what the guilt was about.

It slowly dawned on her that she had just, for the very first time, really and truly lied right to Jo's face. And not only that, she'd more than once made it seem as though she held a position on an argument that she really didn't. And there wasn't really any going back now.

Sighing, she cast out the guilt and thoughts as she stood and carried Johnny back to bed.

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**(shakes head) Well now, that's real, real smart of Lou, ain't it?**  



	6. One More Baby Equals One More Argument

**Well, well... Lookie here. New chappie, and I finally got back into the habit of writing the chapters quickly. Well, yes, I know it seems so long to you, but I started work on this chapter late last night, got half of it done before bedtime, started work on it again just an hour or so ago and just now finished it. Yay!**

**My apologies again for the time it takes to update, but I'm now writing a story for a ficathon and so it has a quickly approaching deadline...**

**Anyway, I've begun scheduling when I'm going to work on my various stories, and it looks like I should have another new chapter up for you guys... (stops and references calendar) around Tuesday, should all go well. Not a promise, just an estimate.**

**Now before you start reading this chapter, let me warn you all: You're going to have to put up with stubborn, argumentive Lou for a little while longer. However, she does her whole annoying self thing with a bit of humor in this chapter, so hopefully you'll get to laugh at her.**

**One last thing before you get on to reading... Thanks so extremely much for the reviews... Opening my inbox in the morning to see that I have reviews completely and totally makes my day! And to my anonymous reviewer "Nette," thanks, and sorry especially to you that it took so long.**

**So finally, here we go with chapter 6!

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**One More Baby Equals One More Argument**

"Hello, wakey-wakey, sleepyhead!" Lou's voice called in his ear.

Groaning, Bo stirred only slightly and weariness kept him from opening his eyes to give his wife a harsh stare.

"I said, _wakey-wakey_!" This time, Lou's tone was more determined, and was accompanied by her hands firmly grasping and then powerfully shaking his shoulders.

Again, Bo only groaned and kept his eyes shut.

"What don't you get about the concept of 'wakey-wakey'?" she huffed. This time, it wasn't a shake that he got, but a quick slap to the face.

That warranted more than a groan. Sitting up and practically shoving Lou away, Bo scowled at her. "What's_ your_ problem?" he grumbled.

Lou scowled in return. "I don't have a problem."

Rubbing at the side of his face demonstratively, his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I'd call you yelling in my ear, then shaking me so hard I thought my head was gonna fall off and then slapping the tar outta my face pretty much qualifies as you having a problem!"

"I didn't know there was any tar _in_ your face to begin with," Lou retorted.

"_Lou_…"

"_Bo_," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "You were the one all on my case yesterday for letting you sleep in. I figured I could wake you up this morning."

"Yes," Bo admitted slowly. "But it's only—" He threw a glance at the alarm clock. "—six forty-five!"

"And your point is?"

"My point is I don't wanna get up this early," he whined. "Get back to me at about eight." With that, Bo flopped back down on the bed and buried his face in his pillow.

For a moment, Lou considered it. But only a very brief moment. Walking back over to the bed, she pushed Bo until he fell off the other side, right onto the floor with a loud _thud_.

"What was that for?" Bo shouted.

Smiling smugly, Lou cocked her head to one side. "When I say 'wakey-wakey' that means you're gonna get up!"

"Just for your information, wood ain't exactly soft to land on!" Bo exclaimed, picking himself up off of the floor.

"That was the whole point, genius." Walking over to the corner where Johnny was standing quietly, rubbing at his eyes with a tiny fist, Lou lifted her son onto her hip. "You're up now, ain't ya?" She laughed somewhat evilly before ducking out the door.

"Up and bruised," Bo muttered to himself, rubbing the spot on his back that had hit the floor first.

Lou's head popped back in the door quickly. "Oh, yeah, and get out here soon as you get dressed. Uncle Jesse's already making breakfast." Just as swiftly as she'd returned, she left again.

"Meanie," he muttered after her.

-+-+-+-

"No, no bacon, thanks," Lou responded to her sister's question.

Jo raised an eyebrow. "Lou, you've fasted from bacon for six months just because the grease popped you that one morning. I think that's more than enough time to get over your little problem." Smiling, she shook the fork with a piece of bacon hanging from the end at her sister. "Besides, doesn't it look just so… tasty?"

"No, it looks so… _greasy_," Lou retorted, mimicking her sister's tone and fighting against the smile that wanted to come to her face.

Putting the fork down, Jo planted her hands on her hips. "Are you callin' my bacon greasy, Lou?"

Feigning anger and failing miserably as a shadow of a smile passed over her face, Lou in turn planted her fists on her hips and swayed her head. "As a matter of fact, I am." She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Now whatcha gonna do about it?"

Entering from his and Jo's bedroom and sitting at the table, Luke laughed at the humorous exchange between the two sisters. Standing at the stove, Uncle Jesse just smiled. And at the opposite end of the table from Luke, sitting in their high-chairs, Johnny and Yvonne were giggling hysterically, even though they obviously didn't understand what was going on.

"I'm gonna…" Realizing she had no humorous comeback, Jo sighed and admitted defeat. "Okay, fine, you win. The bacon is greasy. But that still doesn't change the fact that you're crazy."

Frowning, Lou raised an eyebrow. "Crazy? Just what evidence do you have that I'm crazy?" As Luke started to open his mouth to interject something, Lou held up a finger in his direction. "Uh-uh, don't you say _nuthin'_. I asked _Jo_, not you."

"There's more than enough 'evidence' to show you're crazy," Jo was quick to answer. "If you want just one instance, take last night's argument/conversation."

"Not wanting a big family ain't crazy," Lou quickly protested, fighting the nervous feeling that erupted in her at the reawakened argument about kids. "Not wanting anymore kids ain't crazy either."

"You don't want any more kids?" Luke asked, surprise evident in his voice.

_Oh, that's just great_, Lou thought as she turned towards him. "No, I don't thank you very much. Not like that's much of your business in the first place."

"Might not be his, but it sure is mine," Bo's voice interrupted from across the room. "Since when have you decided you don't want more kids?"

Whirling to face her husband, Lou felt the guilty nervousness quickly expand. _This is just getting better and better, isn't it? _"I don't know. Don't really matter _when_ I decided, just matters _what_ I decided. And what I decided is we ain't gonna have more kids."

"And I don't have any say in this matter?" Bo erupted.

Lou could_ feel_ the way her face tightened angrily. "Seeing as how you ain't the one that's gotta carry a baby around inside of you for nine months, I'd say no, you get no say in the matter."

"You seemed to do well enough last time."

"That wasn't by choice," Lou returned. "Besides, I just now got my figure back." Demonstratively, she planted her hands on her hips that had considerably reduced in size since Johnny's birth. "Do you know how much work that took? I ain't about to go and get pregnant all over again any time soon."

"Oh, don't you—" Bo started.

"Stop this!" Uncle Jesse broke in, physically stepping between the two. "Don't make me separate you two like little kids. If you can't handle this like the civilized adults you are, I'm gonna switch the both of ya like you were two."

Taking a deep breath, Lou quietly calmed herself down and took a seat at the table. And she forcibly shoved that still-present and now larger sense of guilt into the back of her mind.

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** Ya know Lou, hording things away in your heart like that's definitely not good for you! (shakes head) **


	7. The Confidant

**Yay for quick updates! Yeah! I've started scheduling when to work on fics and set personal deadlines, which has seemed to help immensely. But I almost didn't make this deadline... I had a bit of unexpected spring break Sunday and yesterday, which threw me off track... But I got enough time today to finish the chapter. Yay!**

** Okay, thanks for all your reviews and keep on with them!**

**Next update should be on 3/30. Check my profile for changes in that schedule.

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**The Confidant**

Breakfast passed a lot quieter and a bid colder than usual, with Bo and Lou stubbornly refusing to say anything at all to each other. Neither of them would even ask for the other to pass any of the food to them for seconds. If it weren't for the smothering looks that passed between them throughout the meal, one wouldn't even know they knew the other existed.

But, Lou had thought up an excuse for herself. She would claim she was just going by the rule taught to every kid on earth: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

However, the silent, almost begging look that Uncle Jesse gave her near breakfast's end made her feel guilty for letting him down. And feeling like you let sweet Uncle Jesse down made you feel as worthless and awful as dirt.

Lou was quick to decide she'd make up for it at least a little.

For a minute, she wracked her brain for something she could do, but the opportunity openly presented itself after everyone was done eating and Uncle Jesse began clearing away plates and cups from the table.

It was then that she spoke up with a light smile on her face. "Don't worry with all of this, Uncle Jesse. I'll clean off the table for you."

Everyone looked surprised at Lou's uncharacteristic offer to help clean, Bo the most of all of them. He even raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.

She made a "What?" gesture and went on, "Really, you go ahead out to work on the house. I've got it. I promise I won't break anything. And it ain't like I don't know how to wash dishes."

"Well, alright," Uncle Jesse said somewhat reluctantly. "Thank ya very much, Lou."

"You're welcome very much, Uncle Jesse," she replied, rising from the table as the old man slowly sat the plate he'd been holding back on the table. "Off to work with you." Smiling in a way she hoped looked sincerely helpful, she flicked her hands as if to encourage him out the door.

With one last glance that looked somewhat suspicious of Lou, Uncle Jesse wandered on out.

Bo too rose from the table and after throwing a still heated look—though it did seem a _bit_ softer to Lou than those he'd given her during breakfast—at his wife, he likewise left for work. That left Lou standing at one side of the table, stacking dirty plates, and Jo and Luke—who was apparently hanging around a few minutes before following his uncle and cousin out to work—each lifting a baby from the high-chairs.

As soon as Luke set his little nephew down on the floor, Johnny immediately took off at a fast, uncoordinated crawl towards the living room. When Jo set Yvonne down, the little girl set off at an only slightly slower but much more synchronized after her cousin.

"Uh, Lou, need some help there?" Luke asked.

Turning around with a negative ready on her lips, Lou's response promptly died at seeing the look on Luke's face. Eyes wide, the look clearly told Lou that there was a specific reason he needed to help, and to speak with her alone.

"Yeah, thanks," she answered, carefully keeping the questioning note out of her voice so Jo, just now following the babies into the living room, wouldn't notice.

After frowning and staring very pointedly at her brother-in-law, Lou picked up the last two plates and carried them over to the sink. Setting them down in the side she plugged, she set the faucet to running.

Luke followed, carrying the stack of dirty cups.

Tossing a glance over her shoulder to make sure that her sister was safely out of earshot, Lou gave Luke another stare. "What the heck do you want?"

Suddenly, Luke seemed a little fidgety, and quickly set down the stack of cups in the sink as though he might drop them. "I just wanted to ask you something."

An idea of his possible intentions hit Lou and her hands curled to fists that quickly went to her hips. "Luke, if this is about me and Bo, I don't want to hear one word of it."

"It's not, it's not," he quickly assured. "Definitely not."

After that, everything fell into place quickly for Lou as the realization swiftly donned on her. Her mouth formed a perfectly round O before she went on to say, "Oh, I see. I know what you want."

Both of Luke's eyebrows rose. "You do?"

Smiling smugly, Lou turned and squirted soap into the sink water as she explained. "Call it a woman's intuition… Or a sister-in-law's… Or whatever you want. But the evidence is enough. Valentine's Day is coming up and it'll be your first one with your wife, you're a bit worried and you're over here, talking to me alone, away from Jo."

Glancing back towards the living room, Luke groaned lightly. "Is it really that obvious?"

"To me," Lou responded. "Probably not to Jo. You're most likely safe from her figuring it out, at least for now."

"Good." Pausing, Luke watched as Lou started scrubbing dishes, then asked, "So… What should I do for Jo for Valentine's?"

"Don't you have any ideas of your own?"

Luke shrugged. "Not really."

"Men these days know nothing," Lou mumbled to herself, sighing. "So you come right to me, the sister."

"Well, I figured you'd know what she'd like."

Snorting at that, Lou halted her scouring of a stubborn plate briefly. "After twenty-six years, yeah, I probably do."

When she didn't continue, Luke prompted her again. "So… What should I do?"

"If I told you, that would kind of ruin the whole point of _you_ doing something for her, wouldn't it?"

"Lou…" Luke began, sounding for a moment just like Bo when he started getting angry with her.

"Alright, _fine_," Lou cut in before he could say more. "Here's what I think you should do…"


	8. Dinner With A Duke

**Whew! Thought I wasn't gonna make this deadline! My mom had to get on the computer and do taxes today and I was swamped with work yesterday... But I got it done! Hooray for me!**

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews! They really make my otherwise boring, bland, busy days!**

** NEXT UPDATE should be: 4/15 **

**(I have a story for a ficathon that needs to be finished ASAP)

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**Dinner With a Duke**

"Better dig out your best Sunday dress, Jo," Lou muttered to her sister while the two were finishing folding a previously large pile of laundry. Knowing she'd already snatched Jo's attention away from the small heap of clothes, Lou continued to leisurely fold a pair of her own pants.

Stopping with one of Luke's shirts still in her hands, Jo looked over at her sister and frowned deeply as one eyebrow arched lightly. "What?" she asked, as though she hadn't heard. She blinked for a moment after Lou more pronouncedly repeated her statement, and then asked, "Uh, _why_?"

_Because you're gonna need it for what Luke has planned! _Lou thought, but refrained from saying. Instead, she just smiled smugly and mysteriously as she cocked her head to one side. "You never know when you might need it," she averted.

Eyes narrowing, Jo's hands balled to fists and rested themselves on her hips. "Lou…" she started threateningly. Lou knew that tone well: she'd heard it thousands of times since Jo first adopted it in their teen years. It meant that Jo was upset and looking for something, and that Lou was in_ trouble _with a capital T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Scooping up her pile of clothes, Lou hurried to leave the room as she'd learned was her best option in times like these. Best option when "the tone" showed up. "Can't tell you," she said shortly over her shoulder. "It'd ruin the secret."

If it was even possible, Jo's eyes narrowed even further so that they were almost bare slits in her face. "What secret, _pray tell_, dear, _dear_ sister, is _that_?"

In a playpen across the room, both Johnny and Yvonne quieted their playful giggling at the sound of Jo's voice and turned their attention at her, even though they didn't understand.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" Lou skillfully avoided the question again as she quickened her pace, hopeful that she would be able to get out of this mess she'd started just by running from Jo.

"Betty-Lou Johnson…" Jo started, reflexively using her sister's whole name.

Ducking into her bedroom, Lou said over her shoulder, "Sorry, that's not my name!"

Belatedly, Jo realized her mistake. "Betty-Lou Johnson-Duke!" she corrected. But it was too late, and her words were instead shouted into a closed door.

On the inside of the door, Lou breathed a deep sigh of relief.

On the outside, Jo stood for a moment, arguing within herself as to whether or not she should drop this issue or pursue it. Eventually, she decided that Lou wouldn't admit to anything anyway, and so gave up. Grumbling to herself, she shuffled back towards the living room where Johnny and Yvonne were giggling once again, trying to decide which of her dresses was actually "the best."

-+-+-+-

Jo found out soon enough what Lou had been talking about. When Luke came home dressed in a tuxedo, Jo was already half-way expecting what he was going to say. She was waiting, dressed as Lou had implied she should earlier.

When Luke asked her how she already knew, Jo blamed it all on Lou without even a second thought. She eluded to the way Lou had told her, but still made it amply obvious that it was all Lou's fault.

"Lou?" Luke asked, eyebrows arching.

Nodding, Jo threw a smug smile at her sister while Luke gave her a withering look.

"_Lou_," he accused, "you weren't supposed to say anything!"

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Lou's mouth dropped open and she searched for words a long moment before finding them. "I didn't!" she sputtered futilely.

"Jo said you did."

The stare Lou threw her sister could've killed. "I didn't, I swear."

"_Lou_…"

"What is it with you people and calling my name like I'm two today?" she responded, scoffing. After a sigh, she tossed her head slightly. "Anyway, it doesn't even matter if I told her or not—_which I didn't_. She knows now, and she's ready to go."

Sighing, Luke admitted defeat. He turned back to Jo reluctantly. "I think we lost this one. Lou wins again."

Jo smiled smugly. "She gets to pay for her victory by babysitting tonight."

"_Hey_!" Lou protested. "You're not supposed to pay for victory!"

A glare turned towards Lou as she replied, "Yes you are when you shouldn't have won in the first place. And since I know you're gonna protest to that," she went on, cutting off the predicted response from Lou, "I'll just put it this way: it's the price you pay for lying."

Lou scoffed. "Whatever. I was gonna baby-sit for you anyway."

"Thank you, Lou."

"Whatever," she responded again, crossing her arms over her chest.

Smiling at the exchange, Luke turned to his wife. "Alright, are you ready to go?"

"Almost," she replied, smiling lightly. "I've got to grab my purse."

"Go ahead."

Hurrying to her room, Jo almost bumped into Bo coming around a corner. Before he had a chance to brush by towards the living room, she caught him by the arm tightly. He stopped and glanced quizzically at her.

"What?" he asked shortly.

"Today is Valentine's Day…" Jo started.

One of Bo's eyebrows rose as if to say, "You think I didn't know?" But aloud he said, "So?"

"_So_," Jo said pointedly, "try and be nicer to your wife today." She cocked her head slightly to one side. "It _might_ rub off on her."

Bo scoffed loudly. "Yeah, right," he said sarcastically.

Automatically, Jo's mouth set into a firm line. "You know, you're both gonna be stuck home babysitting tonight. I'd really like to come back to find both of you still breathing."

"Well, good luck with that."

"Bo." Jo put on her best pleading face—the one that'd worked perfectly on Lou for years past—as she stared into Bo's eyes. "Please."

He returned the stare none too gently for a moment before his head dropped. Grumbling to himself, he nodded. "Alright."

Smiling victoriously, Jo released his arm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Bo muttered unconvincingly as he brushed past her.

After darting into her room and grabbing her purse, Jo flitted back out to the living room and happily told her husband she was ready to go.

-+-+-+-

Luke didn't tell Jo specifically where they were going, even after the flurry of questions from her as they left Hazzard behind. He smilingly refused to give an answer to any of her inquiries, and that made for a short, silent ride then into the neighboring town of Conyers.

Jo had only been there once before.

Definitely bigger than Hazzard, Conyers was a bit less farmer-oriented, but still friendly.

When Luke turned the car into the parking lot of a nice-looking restaurant, Jo was just a bit surprised. But when he lead her in—on his arm in true gentlemanly style—and back, through the busy and indeed fancy restaurant to a separate room, she was almost speechless.

A small, round table sat in the middle of the room, topped by a fancy, lacy tablecloth. In the center stood two tall candles with their short flames providing the only lighting in the room. Two places were set across from each other, both as fancy as Jo had expected.

"Luke!" Jo finally managed. "How did you afford all of this?"

He smiled. "The owner owed us a couple of favors."

"Oh," she replied simply.

"So… you like it?" Luke asked, slowly leading her to the table.

"No, I love it!" Jo replied, turning to plant a light kiss on her husband's cheek. "It's perfect."

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**Aww... Ain't he just so sweet? Wanna bet Bo's not? ;) **


	9. Peace at Last

**Yay! I finished this chapter two days ahead of schedule! Probably because part of it is something I've been practically dying to write since I started this story... Guess that's a hint to you.**

**Next update should be: 4/18 (yeah, quick, eh?)

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**Peace at Last**

The Duke house was quiet. Maybe too quiet. No, _definitely_ too quiet. The nearly utter silence seemed to press in from all sides, awkward and annoying but almost essential to the two people who remained home this evening.

The only two, since Jo and Luke were out for the night, Daisy had a date of her own and Uncle Jesse was at some sort of seniors dinner.

That left argument-prone Bo and Lou home alone with the babies.

From the moment Uncle Jesse left, the house was drenched in silence as neither Bo nor Lou wanted to say a word to the other. All through feeding the babies dinner, bathing them and readying them for bed, not a word passed between the two, almost as if their mouths had been glued shut.

While the silence was uncomfortable, neither was in the least inclined to break it.

And so the uneasy silence hung in the air, rubbing on both of them.

After Johnny and Yvonne went to sleep, Bo and Lou were left completely alone together. Without even the babies to break the quiet with their occasional gurgles, the awkwardness intensified a thousandfold.

Now, they sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table, eating various cold leftovers from the refrigerator for dinner, no sound heard by either one except their own chewing. The quiet was practically smothering Lou, but in her customary stubbornness, she refused to be the one to break it. She could wait this out. She could wait him out.

And, as it happened, Bo wasn't quite so determined to keep his mouth shut. Eventually, he was the one who spoke. "So…" was the one word he drawled out after a while.

Lou took her eyes off of where they'd been resting on her almost empty plate to glance up at him, raising an eyebrow when he didn't continue.

And he took his own sweet time working up the nerve to say something else. When he did, it turned out to be stupid. "Today's Valentine's," he said slowly.

"How long did it take you to figure that out, genius?" Lou retorted.

Bo actually looked somewhat pained by the comment. "Lou…"

"Bo…" she countered, mimicking his tone. "What else would you have me say to that?"

He quickly looked away and after a moment, replied, "Nothing." With a sigh, his gaze turned back to his wife, all the way at the other end of the table. "It's just… we're _married_."

"Again, how long did it take you to figure that out, Sherlock?" she snapped.

"Lou, listen," he insisted. "We're married now. This is our first Valentine's Day together. Why are we spending it being completely silent?"

Standing and taking her now-bare plate to the sink, Lou had to force her face to stay impassive. "Because we have nothing to say." Dropping the plate into the sink, she frowned for a moment but quickly erased it as she glanced back at Bo with a smirk. "And technically, it's not our first Valentine's together. February 14th the year before last, I seem to remember, was the first time we met."

Bo frowned thoughtfully. "It was?"

Tightly, Lou nodded. "It was."

"See? Why can't all of our Valentine's Days be like that?" Bo asked.

Lou scoffed. "Because _we're_ not like that, Bo." She waved a hand in the air. "That's all well and good for people for Jo and Luke, but us?" She shook her head. "No, not us."

Rising from his seat to stand in front of his wife, Bo protested. "Why _not_ us?" he asked, voice rising. "Lou, why not? Why is everything so perfect for Jo and Luke, but me and you are so bad off?"

A low, groaning sigh escaped Lou's mouth. "I don't know," she grumbled. "But that's the way it is."

"_Why_?" Bo questioned. "Why, Lou?"

"I said I don't know," she bit in return, voice growing harsher.

Taking the few steps between them, he took Lou by her upper arms, looking questioningly down at her. She kept her head down, refusing to look at him.

"We were happy," he said to the top of her head. "We were passionate. We were in love. Me and you. Better matched than anybody. What happened to us? Now we can't even have a conversation without arguing. Lou, what happened to us?" His voice had slowly grown more desperate, pleading with Lou to give him answers.

When she finally forced herself to look up into his face, her vision was distorted by tears. "I don't know," she whispered, voice beginning to break. "I just don't know."

One of his hands came up to wipe away the tear streaking across her face, but she turned away and backed up a few steps. Her own hand caught it and brushed it away as she kept any more from falling.

She forced her voice back level as well. "No, that's a lie. I _do_ know." She sighed as she looked back into her husband's eyes, filled with pain as they were. "I left. I turned tail and ran all of a sudden because I was scared. That's what happened. And the baby happened, Bo. I came back with a mission and part of it was I was gonna marry you for Johnny's sake, but I wasn't gonna get close enough to scare me into running again." Her voice started to break again, and this time she couldn't stop it. She didn't even try, but let it come. "I never counted on how _I_'d feel coming back."

Again, Bo closed the gap between them, this time taking Lou in his arms. "Lou… You didn't count on me and how I feel either, did you?"

As her hands slid around his neck, Lou shook her head. "No, I guess I didn't."

"That was your mistake."

Smiling, she nodded. "It was." She gave a light sigh as instead of kissing her as she expected, Bo leaned his forehead down against hers. "So where do we go from here?"

"I guess we take it slow and see where it goes."

A smirk came to Lou's lips. "Actually, Bo, I never was a fan of taking things slow."

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**Finally, they've sorted themselves out. Took 'em long enough. Now review!  
**


	10. Working Woman & Stay At Home Mom

**Yay for another quick update... I actually wound up combinding this chapter and what I had planned for the next one together, so I have one less chapter to write.  
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**Next update will take a while, since I have some other projects that MUST be finished... **

**Next planned update: May 11th

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**Working Woman & Stay-At-Home Mom**

After she laid Johnny down in his crib for his long afternoon nap, Lou wandered back into the living room. Jo was already there, having laid Yvonne down likewise just a moment ago. This was the routine: the babies always laid down for a four-hour nap after lunch, waking a short time before supper, around the same time Bo, Luke and Uncle Jesse would come home.

Sitting on the couch with an overtly inelegant flop, Lou sighed deeply. "This is so boring…" she practically whined. "We have four hours every afternoon that we have nothing to do with."

"We could just chat like we always do," Jo suggested, fighting the smirk that wanted to appear as she baited Lou.

"We always 'chat,' Jo. It's beginning to get just a little bit old and boring. We've exhausted all interesting subjects." Oblivious to the baiting, Lou asked, "Chat about _what_?"

"About you and your apparently rediscovered love for Bo, maybe," she replied, a smug smile working its way to her lips.

"Jo!" Lou protested, throwing an incredulous look at her sister. That only served to widen the smug, satisfied grin on Jo's face. "I don't think my relationship is any of your business."

Jo dropped onto the couch beside her. "I'm your sister. You_ are_ my business. I'm your _twin_. _Everything_ about you _is_ my business."

"It is_ not_," Lou disagreed strongly.

"Oh, come on, Lou… It's been so obvious for the past week that something happened between you. There's been a whole lot less shouting matches, and you two don't always look like you're ready to kill each other. In fact, you look downright in love." She raised an eyebrow. "Something happen while you two were left here alone on Valentine's, Lou?"

Quickly standing in a deep reluctance to say anything at all to her sister—because Lou knew that'd only lead to a steady repetition of "I told you so"—Lou wracked her brain for a way to get out of here and away from the pestering. Something not entirely expected quickly presented itself.

"You know, I was considering what I could do in the afternoons," she quickly began to voice the excuse, "and I thought I could get a part-time job. We could use the money, and I could work just in the afternoon, while Johnny and Yvonne are taking their afternoon naps, so you don't get all overwhelmed."

Eyes narrowing at Lou's evasion of answering the question, Jo planted her hands on her hips. After so long of pestering Lou about her inability to reconcile with Bo, she'd expected her sister to be all too willing to share about her success.

Already moving towards the door, Lou grabbed her purse as she said over her shoulder, "Thanks for agreeing, Jo!"

The swift protest of "Hey!" was barely heard by Lou, as Jo shouted it at the door she had just closed behind her.

-+-+-+-

Driving through "downtown" Hazzard in her and Jo's old car, Lou kept her eye out for "Help Wanted" signs, but saw none thus far. Where were all of those signs that she saw before, when she wasn't looking for work?

It seemed before that Boss Hogg was always looking for an extra waitress at the Boar's Nest—not that Lou would take that job anyway—or the grocery store was looking for an extra cashier or bagger. Or that the bank was looking for a teller…

Where had all of the signs for those jobs gone?

Now that she needed one to show up, had they all just disappeared?

It just figured the moment she needed anything, it vanished. It seemed to be the story of her life.

But that wasn't something to think about now.

Hazzard was small, but there had to be somebody looking for a part-time worker. And it was small enough that Lou was almost certain if she put out word that she was looking for a job, someone would free up a place for her.

But she didn't want to wait long enough for the news to spread across Hazzard. She wanted to just come out and find herself a good job quickly.

That way she wouldn't have to deal with any crap from Jo.

As she passed it, a sign finally caught Lou's eye.

_Finally! _Lou thought, stopping and parking the car. _Thank God, I finally found_ something_…_

-+-+-+-

After Lou left in a hurry, Jo truly had nothing to do. She was left here in an empty house, with nothing in particular to do, for four long hours.

At first, she considered finding some chores to do. After all, seven people lived here, and there had to be some sort of work to do. But when she attempted to search for a chore, she found none. Everything was clean and perfect.

Well, Uncle Jesse did run a pretty tight ship around here.

Sighing, she settled into a rocking chair on the front porch, since apparently there was nothing else to do. Slowly rocking back and forth, Jo sighed as she stared out across the landscape of the farm that laid out in front of her.

Out of nowhere, the beauty of the scene struck her, and her eyes began seeing it in a different way… Instead of a whole picture, she saw lines and mingling, mixing, contrasting colors.

Jo had only drawn as an inexpert child, with crayons and colored pencils, but she suddenly had the urge to capture the sight before her on paper.

Standing quickly, she hurried back in the house to find a pencil and paper… While she was searching fruitlessly, she suddenly remembered a very old paint set tucked away in her closet. Swiftly, she hurried into her room—quietly so as not to wake Yvonne—and drew the small box from the closet.

Just as quietly, she slipped back out of the room and onto the porch, once again retaking her seat in the rocking chair. The paint set sat in her lap.

Her fingers trailed across the lid for a moment as she remembered where it'd come from.

Jo and Lou's mother had been an amateur painter, with hopes of becoming great one day. When she discovered her terminal illness, those dreams had quickly been abandoned and she'd begun drinking.

After that, Jo had taken her mother's beloved paint set and kept it for her own, a reminder of the woman she'd once loved and admired.

For almost twenty years, she'd kept the small box of paints and brushes with her. She'd never opened it for the pain it brought back, and the dust on it was heavy. After inhaling sharply, she blew the dust bunnies off, revealing the name written on the box's lid.

Anna Johnson it read.

As she began taking the brushes out, Jo decided there just might be a bit of her mother's talent hiding in her somewhere, now was a perfect time to try and seek it out.

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**Just letting you guys know, there will be 4 more chapters after this one, then the book is done... And I promise there's some of Bo and Lou coming up in the next chapter. And one reviewer expressed reluctance to see Bo and Lou become completely and totally lovey-dovey, but y'all remember, this is Hazzard, and don't nothin' ever run smooth for long.**


	11. Bringing Home the Bacon

**Yay for an update! I might have another chapter done by the end of the week, but I might not, since I'm considering doing an original fic this week...  
**

** Anyway, on to the chapter!

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**Bringing Home the Bacon**

It was a short jog up the pathway from Jo and Luke's nearly completed house back to the main house. Still, that little bit winded Bo. Probably because he was hurrying.

And not because the task Uncle Jesse had given him was all that urgent, either.

He'd actually found that in the week that'd passed since he and Lou reconciled, he'd been more eager to get home. Because he knew he wasn't going home to arguments and fights, but to loving arms and passionate kisses.

To the Lou he'd fallen in love with a year ago—not the Lou he'd fallen out of love with for so many long months.

He tried but couldn't stop the smile that slowly came to his face as he rounded the last turn in the path before the main house. He was only going to be here for a few minutes to make a phone call before he went back to the construction site, but he'd still be able to see Lou for a few moments…

Unconsciously, his pace quickened at the thought.

He spotted someone on the front porch, and he quickly slowed himself down, so as not to look desperate. But as he got closer, he noticed that it was Jo, not Lou.

His eyes scanned around the porch for his wife as he mounted the steps up to the porch, but he didn't see her anywhere. So he looked down to Jo, and noticed the small canvas in sitting in her lap, and the paint brush in her hand.

On the canvas was a nearly finished and beautifully painted copy of the field in front of them, topped by a cerulean sky. The green strokes of grass had just the right slant to make them look like they were blowing in a perpetually gentle breeze…

"That's beautiful, Jo!" he said.

Apparently startled by Bo's presence, Jo glanced up to notice him for the first time. But then she smiled and nodded modestly. "Thank you, Bo," she said.

"It really is," he insisted. He glanced around again, eyes searching for but not finding Lou. He repeated the process, but still didn't spot her. "Uh, Jo? Where's Lou?"

Jo glanced up at him, then back down at her painting. "She's not here. Left about an hour ago to go into town."

"Oh." He was a bit disappointed and felt his shoulders slump. But he set off inside to make the phone call that was _supposed_ to be the reason he was here at the main house anyway.

-+-+-+-

Jo watched her brother-in-law go inside, sucking in a nervous breath. He was going to be angry when he found out that Lou had gone into town to get a _job_. Without so much as consulting him first. Oh, yes, he was going to be angry.

…and when he found out that she'd known all along but hadn't said anything, she was going to be at least the partial recipient of that anger.

However, she'd rather risk Bo's wrath than Lou's. Because if she told Bo _why_ his wife had gone into town, she was definitely going to have Lou mad at her. And after twenty-six years, Jo was pretty darn certain that having Lou angry with her was not something she wanted to risk.

Sighing, she made a mental note to make herself scarce later on today.

-+-+-+-

Picking up the phone, Bo dialed 0 for the operator. He leaned against the wall, waiting until the call went through, but not until someone answered "Operator!" on the other end. "Hey, May-Belle, could you—" he started.

"This ain't May-Belle."

Startled, all he could do for a very long moment was blink. Finally, though, Bo regained his voice. "Uh, excuse me?"

A frustrated grunt came from the other end of the line. "I said this ain't May-Belle, Bo," repeated the suddenly familiar voice.

Again, all Bo could do was blink until he found his voice again. "Lou!" he sputtered.

"That's my name," his wife deadpanned from the other end.

Bo grunted before asking, "Lou, what're you doing answering the phone at the operator's?"

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I kinda get paid to do it. That's what you do when you have a job."

His mouth opened and closed a few moments while no sound came out. When his voice returned, the tone was loud and angry, bordering on explosive. "Job!" he thundered. "You went into town to get a job!"

"Yes, Bo, a job." Lou gave a mock-gasp. "A job! Me, a job! _Me_, with a job! Oh, my!"

He felt his jaw set angrily. "Without asking me first?"

Lou gave a low, angry growl. "I'm your wife, not your daughter, Bo. I don't gotta get your permission to do anything."

"Lou—"

"Bo, I can't sit here and talk with you anymore. I have a job to do."

"A job!" Bo replied loudly to the dial tone. Angrily, he jammed a finger into the hang up button, and then dialed zero again. This time, he waited for Lou to answer.

"Operator."

And he began, "Lou…"

Again, the dial tone sounded in his ear. Growling angrily, he slammed the phone down and stormed out the door, only glancing at Jo briefly before moving on. Down off of the porch he went, and right to the General.

He was going to have a talk with Lou, whether she liked it or not.

-+-+-+-

An hour later, when Lou and Bo both returned, Jo was sitting on the far end of the porch, a bit frightened at how things would turn out not only for her, but for her sister and brother-in-law. After all, they'd only been happy together for the past week… She would hate to see that ruined all so quickly.

But neither of them really seemed all that angry with each other as they exited their cars and stepped up on the porch.

After sighing, Lou turned towards Jo, and Jo's hands tightened on the sides of her rocking chair.

But, Lou smiled. "Don't worry, Jo. Neither one of us are mad at you."

She let out a deep breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Good."

Lou smiled and winked at Bo. "Actually, I think for once, we resolved the disagreement without arguing... too much."

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**Oh, they're doing so much better. But, they're not completely there yet. Ahem, now review!**


	12. Home

**Yay for update!**

**I'll try and update by the end of the week, but I don't know if I'll be able to because I've just been so exhausted and so busy.

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**Home**

"How in the world did you two, the world's greatest arguers, manage to get by without arguing?" Jo asked.

"We didn't," Lou replied evenly.

That stopped Jo, and she turned to her sister, raising an eyebrow at her. Her mind instantly recalled what Lou had said yesterday, and she frowned saying, "Uh, I thought you said…?"

"What I said was we settled the dispute without _too much_ arguing," Lou corrected. "If we could've gotten through it without _any_ arguing at all, that would've been an absolute miracle. You know that. Even when we're not fighting like mortal enemies, and we're doing fine with each other, in love and whatnot, we're still _fighting_. I think we always will be fighting."

"Well then how'd you—" As her sister's words sunk in, Jo stopped and blinked her widened eyes for a long moment, speechless. She tried to get something out of her mouth, anything at all, but apparently her vocal chords weren't working. Her mouth just worked open and closed aimlessly as her eyes did the same. Finally, she regained control of her eyes and mouth. "Wait just a cotton-pickin' second, did you just say you and Bo are _in love!"_

Raising her eyebrows, Lou shrugged. "Well, maybe I did, maybe I didn't." She started walking away, tossing, "After all, what concern is it of yours?" over her shoulder.

"Lou!" Jo protested, following her sister and gripping her tightly by the arm. Lou turned back around and raised her eyebrows at Jo's hand on her arm. But Jo didn't let go. She was going to get this out of Lou… "You know what concern it is of mine! I want to know, Lou! So tell me! Did you say you and Bo are in love!"

"You know what I said, Jo," Lou replied.

Again, Jo just blinked for a long moment. "So… you really did say what I think you said?"

"Yes, I did."

"And you really are admitting to it?"

"Yep. I am."

Jo couldn't help the grin that split her face, or her rapid bouncing. "Oh, Lou! This is great! You two finally… and you finally…" Words eluded her, and all that came out of her mouth was an excited, "Eee!"

Lou's hands firmly grasped Jo's shoulders and halted her bouncing. "Oh, Good Lord, Jo, settle down!" she exclaimed. "It was bound to happen sooner or later." She sighed. "After all, we did already procreate and everything…"

"Yeah, but…" The words caught again, and Jo fell back on the "Eeeeeeee!" again.

"Would you stop that?" Lou said, trying to be serious but failing as she choked down a laugh. "E is a letter. Not a word."

Continuing to grin, Jo shrugged. "It's all I can say!"

"Well then…" Lou cleared her throat. "Eeeee!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down, and taking her sister's hands as she did the same. It made both of them feel like silly teenagers again.

-+-+-+-

"Don't open your eyes!" Luke's voice reminded her from somewhere off to her left. "Really, don't open them!"

"Okay, okay!" Jo replied, closing her eyes even tighter and holding her hands over them. She sat in the passengers seat of her car, just wondering what this surprise that Luke had to show her was.

After a moment, she heard the door beside her open, and she felt her husband's hand wrap around her arm, drawing her out of the car. She went willingly, letting him guide her over an uneven grassy ground as she kept her eyes closed. Finally, he stopped, and Jo could tell without even seeing that there was a big smile on her husband's face.

"Alright, uncover your eyes and look."

Drawing in a deep breath, Jo removed her hands and opened her eyes.

In front of her stood a small brick house that she'd seen the plans for over and over again, complete with a wide front porch and black-shuttered windows. But now, seeing it right here in front of her was… overwhelming.

"Oh, Luke…"

Luke stepped forward, sweeping his arms out to indicate the house. "Now, it ain't quite finished on the inside, but I figured you'd want to see it still."

"You figured right." Jo took a deep breath. "That house is ours. Ours."

He smiled at his wife. "Yeah, honey. It's _ours_."

Giving a contented sigh, Jo leaned against Luke's shoulder. "It's perfect."


	13. Acceptance

**GAH! I am so sorry this chapter is so short. It absolutely refused to come out any longer.**

**This is the next-to-last chapter. I'm gonna try and finish the last chapter before the end of next week. TRY being the keyword.

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**Acceptance**

"Now, the Lord bless y'all, and the Lord keep y'all until he comes again," the pastor intoned with his usual sermon-closing. He nodded to the congregation before him, then turned back to the music director. "Brother Simmons, would you please lead us in song?"

With his customary nod, the music director stood, followed shortly by the choir and congregation. He waved his arms and murmured something Jesse couldn't quite hear from the pew by which he now stood.

The choir launched into the familiar tune of "Victory in Jesus" as the congregation sang along with the beginning verse. He opened his mouth and sang without paying the slightest bit of attention. The song rolled off of his lips reflexively, and out of the corner of his eye, he watched his family—nephews, niece, and of course his nephews' wives.

"_I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory_." The old song rang throughout the church, the notes pouring out of every mouth. "_How He gave his life on Calvary, to save someone like me… I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning. Then I repented of my sin, and won the victory_."

As the choir went on, launching into the chorus of the old hymn, the pews began emptying as the members of the Hazzard Baptist Church dispersed into chatty groups. They were, after all, Southern Baptists, and would talk until the world came to an end.

Out of the corner of his eye—so as not to alert them that he was looking—Jesse watched as Lou and Jo, each sporting a baby on their hip, started mingling in with the groups. He smiled as they began talking with a few of the local Hazzard folk.

They were, he mused, quickly becoming a part of the community.

A perfect fit into the small town life, so quickly… The quirky townsfolk of Hazzard, Georgia had accepted Jo and Lou as a part of themselves.

And they weren't the only ones, Jesse mentally noted as Bo and Luke both came to stand beside their wives. Both of his nephews draped an arm across their wives' waists lovingly. With a contented sigh, Jesse watched the happy couples.

His family was really coming together, despite the wild, unusual way that it had been assembled to begin with. But the circumstances had apparently managed to mold a real family.


	14. Revelation

**Oh, guys, I am so sorry this took so long... I've just been busy, I guess...**

**It might be a while before I start the third book. I've got some other projects I'd really like to tackle first.

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**Revelation**

It started faintly, and lightly. Nothing too abnormal. Just a bit of uneasiness down in the pit of her stomach. Over the course of twenty minutes, though, it grew and grew, until it was full-blown nausea. It actually took Jo by complete surprise when the feeling spread around her stomach, and she felt her throat starting to burn.

She quickly dashed her way into the bathroom, where she gave up her lunch to the toilet. After it was through, she slumped back against the wall, breathing heavily as her throat still burned.

After a moment, her sister's head popped into the bathroom. "Jo?" she asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Giving a sigh, she nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Doesn't really hurt anymore."

A little warily, Lou walked her way across the small bathroom and knelt beside her sister, draping an arm around her shoulders. "You didn't eat anything that might've made you sick, did you?"

Jo only hesitated a moment before replying, "No, I didn't."

For a moment, Lou looked around elsewhere and licked her lips. Finally, she spoke. "Jo, do you think it might be…?" she trailed off suggestively, knowing her sister would catch the drift.

Her eyes snapped up and widened immediately upon realizing what it was that Lou was suggesting. Her jaw worked up and down for a long moment before she forced out, "Certainly not yet. I mean, it's too soon for that, isn't it?"

"I would think so, but…" Lou shrugged. "I've heard of it happening before."

Sighing, Jo leaned her head back against the wall. "You've seriously heard of women getting pregnant again just seven months after _having_ a baby?"

"I really have, Jo," Lou answered, offering a light smile. "You really think you might be pregnant again?"

Swallowing against the sudden, unexplained lump in her throat, Jo shrugged. "I really don't know, Lou. I mean, I never expected it to happen this fast… Maybe it is too soon to be thinking about that. Maybe I just caught a bug or ate something that didn't sit well."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

-----

A bit anxiously, Lou awaited her sister's emergence from the bathroom, waiting to hear whatever news she would bring. She was ready to rejoice with her sister whether Jo was pregnant or not.

When Jo finally came out of the bathroom, pregnancy test in hand, she looked up to Lou and smiled. "I'm pregnant."

"Eeeh!" Lou launched herself at her sister, hugging her tightly. "You're pregnant! You're gonna have another baby!"

"LOU!" Jo gasped. "I need to _breathe_!"

Immediately, Lou loosened her grip and settled for smiling at her sister for a long moment before a thought occurred to her, causing her to frown. "So…" she said slowly. "How're you gonna tell Luke?"

-------

When the men came home from work—they'd been working on finishing the inside of Jo and Luke's house recently—Jo was sitting on the front porch, waiting. Uncle Jesse and Bo proceeded inside while Luke stopped to drop a light kiss on his wife's cheek. When he leaned back from the kiss, Jo offered him a light smile, which he immediately returned.

"How much did you get done today?" she asked.

"Well, we're still working on really finishing up all of the walls," Luke answered. "Insulation and all of that."

"Oh," Jo said, not knowing what else to say. After all, she had something pretty big on her mind. As Luke curled a finger under her chin and tilted her face towards him, Jo realized that her eyes had dropped to the ground.

"Something wrong, honey?" he asked lightly.

She paused. "Well, nothing's wrong," she answered slowly. "But I do have something to tell you."

When she didn't go on, Luke raised an eyebrow.

After taking a deep breath, Jo pushed herself onward and forced the words out of her mouth. "I'm… pregnant, Luke." His jaw dropped open, and all Jo could think was, _Please don't faint like you did last time…_

Finally, Luke managed to close his mouth and then sputtered out, "This soon?"

Jo nodded. "This soon. I couldn't believe it either, but…" She shrugged. "We're gonna have another baby, Luke."

"We're gonna have another baby," Luke repeated slowly, a note of disbelief lingering in his tone. A grin slowly spread across his face, erasing the doubt as he said it again. "We're gonna have another baby!" He took both of his wife's hands in his own. "Jo, we're gonna have another baby!"

She laughed, a hand covering her still flat stomach. "I know, Luke. I know."

-----

When Bo passed into the house, Lou immediately grabbed a hold of his arm and drew him towards her. She smiled and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Guess what?" she said.

"What?" he asked slowly, with a "do I _want_ to know?" undertone in the words.

An excited shout came from outside, and Lou glanced at the door. A grin immediately spread across her face and it only made Bo look at her stranger.

"Is there something going on?" he asked.

"Yep," Lou answered shortly, purposely not elaborating.

Bo waited expectantly a moment before he took Lou by the shoulders. "Something I need to know about?" he asked slowly.

"Yep."

"Lou—" he started, frustrated.

She laughed at her husband a moment, causing him to give her a harsh stare. "Okay, okay," she conceded, lifting her hands in defeat. "Jo's pregnant!"

Bo just blinked for a moment. "Again?" he asked.

"_Again_!" Lou confirmed.

A faint smile touched Bo's face, then he hesitated a long moment before saying, "Does this change your perspective on having more kids anytime soon?"

With a slightly apologetic smile on her face, Lou shook her head. "No, it doesn't. I do want a bigger family, Bo, but I really do want to wait for a little while before we start working on that."

"Waiting." Bo smiled at his wife happily. "I think I can do that."

**THE END**

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**Just 'cauz this is the last chapter doesn't mean you're excused from reviewing... **


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